Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 31 : Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday reiterated his party's stand on the proposed Waqf Amendment Bill, saying that they are also against this bill like most of the parties in the nation.
He said that the SP would oppose the Waqf amendment bill in the Parliament. Yadav said that the decisions taken by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government have failed to benefit the public.
"Most of the parties of the nation are against this bill. The political parties will oppose it. Samajwadi Party is also against this bill. We will oppose this in the Parliament. The big decisions taken by the BJP have failed to benefit the public. They finished reservations for Anglo-Indians. They brought in GST on the pretext of increasing efficiency for businesses. However, corruption has increased due to GST.
"There are many legislations which have affected the public. For example, you can't buy land in the neighbouring state (of Uttarakhand), which was a part of Uttar Pradesh," he added.
Former Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Alphons KJ on Monday said that the proposed Waqf (Amendment) Bill was "very rational" while calling out the previous implementation of the Waqf Act as "irrational".
He said that the history of the implementation of the Waqf Act depicts that it has benefited a few people only and its implications have been "absolutely communal".
"Kerala Bishops' Council, which is a congregation of all the Bishops of Kerala, have made a request to all the MPs from Kerala to support the Waqf Amendment Bill. Why? Because it's a very rational bill. If you look at the history of how the Waqf Act was implemented in India, we see that it was completely irrational. It has benefited a few people; it has been absolutely communal in its implications," Alphons KJ told ANI.
While talking about the Munambam case, where people bought hundreds of acres of land that Waqf claims to be its property, he said that the central government has brought in the Waqf Amendment Bill to resolve such "anomalies".
Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI (M) politburo member Brinda Karat reiterated her party's stand against the proposed amendments to Waqf Act, saying that it was "anti-constitutional" and "unfair" to the minority community.
"The CPM has taken a position against the Waqf Amendment Bill. We believe that it is anti-constitutional and completely unfair to the minority community. People have their own opinions, but definitely, the way that this is sought to be pushed in Parliament is not good for democracy in our country," Karat told ANI.
Earlier today, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju dismissed the opposition against the proposed Waqf Amendment Bill, saying that those opposing the same are "powerful people" while accusing them of "misguiding" people.
He said that criticising the bill was everyone's right, but it must be substantial.
Kerala BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that many Christian organisations, including the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC), are extending support to the Waqf Amendment Bill proposed by the centre after poor families in the Munambam suburb claimed to be living under the threat of their land being seized by the Waqf board. He urged the MPs in the state to assist people instead of engaging in "appeasement politics".
Earlier, the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) urged MPs to vote in favour of amending the "unconstitutional" and "unjust" provisions of the Waqf Act.
The statement issued by Fr. Thomas Tharayil of the KCBC secretariat said that provisions in the Waqf law, which legitimise the "illegal claims" in such a way that people in Munambam are unable to exercise their revenue claims on the land, need to be amended.
"The Farooq College management, which sold the land to the residents of Munambam, has asserted that the land in question was received as a gift, the MPs should cooperate to amend the waqf bill Which has provisions to raise claims against this. KCBC will send a letter to MPs requesting to vote in favour of amending Waqf bill," KCBC said in a statement.
Around 610 families of Munambam, a coastal village in the Ernakulam district, have been protesting against the claim by the Waqf Board on their land.